FYI Moms: #Molly is NOT Your Daughter’s New BFF!

As I was preparing for an upcoming talk on Parenting Teen Girls in a Digital World, I came across this statistic: 71% of teens say they hide their online activity from their parents (Sass, 2012). I would venture a guess that the number is probably much higher than this study shows. Yet, from what I’ve seen on Twitter and other social media sites, many teens don’t seem to be hiding their posts about #Molly – often bragging about it. And in case you didn’t know already, #Molly is not your daughter’s new BFF or your son’s girlfriend either. Molly is party drug that is sweeping the nation – the powder or crystal form of MDMA, the chemical used in Ecstasy, and has been a popular drug at music festivals this year, CNN reports. I had never even heard of this drug until recently, but now I see it popping up everywhere – even in music lyrics like Miley Cirus’s song, “We Can’t Stop.” She brazenly sings “We like to party… dancin’ with molly.” I originally thought she was saying “dancing with Miley.” duh.  There have been several recent Molly-related deaths in the news as well. This is not intended to give you all the details about what Molly is, but rather just to let you know that this latest “it drug” with the girl-next-door name, is something to be aware of, educate yourself about and then have a serious talk with your teen about the dangers of this party drug.